Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Judith Viorst ~ Ray Cruz ~ Anteneum, 1972

Though I never personally owned this one, the cover is hugely evocative of my childhood as it was a book you saw everywhere and amazingly has been in print nonstop since it was published in the year of my birth. I guess it was around that time that psychotherapy boomed and books for children that "dealt with things" started popping up (see Judith's The Tenth Good Thing About Barney if you have to deal with pet death). In this case, Alexander is having a pretty crappy day... for example...

I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

We've all had days like this, when no matter how hard we try, everything manages to go to hell. And for children, it is that much harder as they have a difficult time grasping the concept of the light at the end of the tunnel. Some gum in the hair can feel like the end of the world rather than a minor hassle easily fixed with olive oil. It tickles me silly all the little things in here that Alexander can't stand... like lima beans and kissing on TV and his railroad pajamas. Ha! Just when I thought I had the fabulous fours conquered, I am reminded of all the stubbornness left to come. Oh joy.

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